


On The Waves

by voleuse



Series: Between Each Footfall [5]
Category: Battlestar Galactica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-15
Updated: 2005-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-04 12:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>The perfect place to watch the world go down in flames</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On The Waves

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for the miniseries. Title and summary taken from Tom McRae's "Walking 2 Hawaii."

They've known about the decommissioning for weeks, maybe even months, but it's the day of the ceremony by the time Helo finally brings it up.

"Where'll you go?" he asks, not looking at Boomer as he flicks a few switches, runs a routine sweep.

"I don't know," she says, checking the comm chatter. "Wherever you do, I guess."

At that, he turns to look at her. "Boomer--"

She turns. "We're a team." It's a statement, with no room for discussion.

Helo smiles. "Right." Then, carefully, "Know where the chief's going to end up?"

He can barely discern her shrug through her flight suit. "No idea." But her voice is less casual than her words, and he doesn't know what that means.

So he changes the subject.

*

 

As they approach the _Galactica_, Helo straps himself into his seat. The Raptor wobbles slightly, and he looks at Boomer, notices her hands, twitching nervously against the helm. "Something wrong?"

Boomer shakes her head. "Nothing major, I think. Balance is off." She tilts her head. "You hear that?"

The ship wobbles again, and Helo catches an odd sound, a slight grind that shouldn't be there.

He checks the board. The numbers are a little erratic, but everything else is green. "Think it's the gimbal again?"

Boomer grimaces. "Probably." She grasps the helm firmly as the ship shimmies more strongly. "We're going to come in hot."

He punches a few buttons, makes sure the deck is warned. They coast into the landing bay, bounce once, hard.

Helo looks out the glass. "L.S.O. looks pissed," he says, grabbing his flight reports.

She yanks at her helmet. "He isn't the only one."

He watches her as she unclips her harness, jerks out of her seat. She looks tense, he thinks, as he unbuckles his own harness. "Want to find a card game?" he asks.

But the door unseals, and he hears Chief Tyrol beginning to heckle.

"Never mind," he mutters, and steps out to watch the sparks fly.

*

 

He saves a seat for her in the ready room, and she slips in seconds before the briefing begins. Smiles at him, and tugs self-consciously at her collar.

She's got her flight suit on, but she smells like soap, and underneath that...

Helo coughs, looks at his clipboard, and doesn't think about where she's been for the past half hour.

Just like always.

*

 

"Viper 7242, Raptor 312. This is Boomer. Just wanted to say it was an honor to fly with you, Apollo."

Boomer closes the channel, and Helo tugs on his harness. Smirks.

"You think he's cute?"

She tilts her head, rolls her eyes at him.

"It's the eyes, right?" Helo leans back in his seat. "Back in flight school, they always swooned over them."

"Funny." She flips a switch, starts checking comm chatter.

"You're right." Helo bites his lip, wonders how far he can push on this. "He doesn't seem like your type."

She reaches over, punches him in the shoulder. "And how would you know--"

Something starts to click, a familiar and unused code, and they exchange a worried glance.

Helo leans in, raises the volume on the comm unit.

There's static, louder than usual, and then panic floods over the channel, and a line opens from the _Galactica_.

Boomer opens the channel to the squadron, and Helo listens to her breathe, shallow and short, as the unthinkable is pronounced.

The Dradis console beeps behind them, and Helo rises from his seat, even as the CAG's voice issues calmly over the channel.

Helo squeezes her shoulder, murmurs a few words of comfort, and then makes his way back to the panels.

He keeps his own panic to himself.

*

 

The comms go quiet. Helo suppresses a shiver, frowns as the Viper blips twist awry on the screen. "Boomer, what's going on?"

He moves to the front, peers through the glass. Boomer tries to patch through, but there's no response, just static.

He watches the missiles launch, strike, and the Viper blips disappear. An alarm starts to blare, and his mouth goes dry.

He knew the name of each and every member of the squadron. He's played cards with most of them.

The cylons veer toward the Raptor, and he bounds back to the panels, braces himself as Boomer maneuvers up and around.

The missiles trail behind them, the battle rages before them, and his heart leaps at the adrenaline surge.

They aren't going to die, he tells himself. They're better than that.

Something slams against the hull, ricochets in and through his leg, and everything goes white for a second.

The decompression alert whines sharply, and he swallows the pain long enough to slam a patch onto the floor.

He grabs the medkit as Boomer shuts down the engines. Starts to wrap his wounds, and after a minute, she unstraps, comes back.

"We'll be cruising for a few more minutes." She takes the gauze out of his hands. "Let me do that."

He nods, slumps onto the floor. Raises his knee to give her better access. "Thanks."

"It's nothing." She meets his eyes, smiles weakly. "Saving your ass is part of my job."

Helo manages to return a grin, suppresses a groan as she tapes down the gauze. "Good flying back there."

She drops her eyes again, wipes the blood off her gloves. Stands, and walks back to the helm.

"We're not done yet."

Helo closes his eyes, listens to the crash and racket of the battle. His head is starting to get fuzzy from the pain, and he fumbles an analgesic out of the medkit, clutches it in his hand.

"Entering the ionosphere," Boomer murmurs, and the engines fire up again, comforting and fierce. "Stay with me, Helo."

"Yeah," he says, and opens his eyes. Stares at the ceiling, and begins to list the dead.

It keeps him awake until they touch down, and then Boomer is beside him, pulling his helmet off, easing the pill between his lips.

He swallows it dry, grabs her hand before she moves away again.

"Sharon." She kneels back beside him, and he entwines her fingers in his.

She shakes her head before he can speak again, and they look at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Helo smiles. "Come on." He pushes onto his feet, winces. "Let's get our baby back in the air."

She slips an arm around his back, supporting him as he walks. At his nod, she punches a button, and the hull unseals to the end of the world.


End file.
